Indo-Canada Outlook

Unified Field Theory: on Non-BJP Alliance

Editorial: The Hindu

Opposition parties need to agree on a political agenda and a tactical alliance to defeat the BJP

A string of defeats is the common thread holding the Opposition parties together against the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Ideological divides have been papered over and tactics reworked in the quest to stop the BJP from getting a second consecutive term. The post-poll alliance stitched together by the Congress with the Janata Dal (Secular), which allowed for the swearing-in of JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy as Chief Minister, provided the occasion for a show of hands in unity in Bengaluru. But more significant than winning over the JD(S) was the presence of Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati on the front stage. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, still the most respected leader in her party, seemed to share a special moment on the dais with Ms. Mayawati.

Forty Hours When the Fate of the Republic Hung in Balance

In mid-August, the polity had a narrow escape. That traumatic experience has helped restore an equilibrium of sorts. The momentum in favour of fairness should not be allowed to slow down.

By Harish Khare *

They say all’s well that ends well, but it will be a case of inexcusable complacency to forget so soon those 40 hours of despondency last week in Bangalore and beyond. For nearly two whole days – from the time governor Vajubhai Vala granted B.S. Yeddyurappa 15 days to prove his majority till the time Friday morning when the Supreme Court modified that order and directed a Saturday evening floor test – the polity and its citizens were frozen in disbelief and despair.

India’s Public Banks Are Its Lifeline: Privitisation Will Ruin Them

By Moin Qazi

The current crisis in the Indian banking sector led to calls for privatisation of public sector banks (PSB). However, the private sector is no paragon of great virtue. Moreover the faithful supplicants of privatization are ill-informed of the real issues. The huge crowds that throng public banks and put up with various inconveniences indicate the enormous faith that the public has in these banks. The challenge today doesn’t involve providing ultra-sophisticated banking to the 10% upper crust. Instead, the true challenge is to provide basic financial services to India’s 90%, who may not be the source of great revenue to banks. Almost all government pensioners bank exclusively with public banks.

People in Silicon Valley Can’t Afford To Be Silly Any Longer

By Richard Oxman

The water pollution in Bangalore, India poses a serious threat to residents’ health and creates a chronic shortage of clean water for people to use. All in all, experts predict a severe water crisis which will make Bangalore uninhabitable by 2025, with residents potentially having to be evacuated.

Are we talking about relocating ten million people or so from the realm of India’s Silicon Valley? Whatever the numbers involved, when one speaks of relocating communities in India - clearly - the challenges involved are beyond daunting.

Need for Governors True to Oath of Office: Fali Nariman

By Krishnadas Rajagopal

Should consider all ground realities, says the eminent jurist.

Eminent jurist Fali S. Nariman said the year 2018-19 needs Governors who are true to the oath of office and who must ensure that the person invited to be Chief Minister is capable of forming a “responsible and reasonably lasting government.”

Mr. Nariman said the Sarkaria Commission states the “correct constitutional position” in case of a hung Assembly. The Commission notes that the Governor should give first priority to a pre-poll alliance to form a government. If this fails, the second preference is for the single largest party. If that does not work, the Governor should opt for a post-poll alliance or coalition.

Did Nehru Visit Bhagat Singh in Jail?

Is it politically relevant today to ask

By Ram Puniyani *

In the recently held Karnataka elections, Narendra Modi made statements which are not true, and which are made to raise the emotive pitch against his opponents. In a blatant lie, in a rally in Bidar, he asked “When Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Batukeshwar Dutt, Veer Savarkar, greats like them were jailed fighting for the country’s independence, did any Congress leader went to meet them?...” One is surprised as to how this can be an electoral issue today? The central tactic of BJP and communal organizations is to bypass the issues related to people’s needs and to distract the attention towards one’s related to emotive issues. Issues which can put his opponents in a bad light have been regularly resorted to by Modi. For creating this Modi can go to the extent of saying untruths with great amount of confidence. In this statement-question raised; he is speaking a lie on one side and is also trying to glorify his icon Savarkar on the other.

Malnutrition: India’s Silent Catastrophe

By Moin Qazi

Despite the spectacular strides made in economic growth and having a technological boom, India still continues to struggle to attain freedom from hunger. It is bearing witness to a triple burden of malnutrition—the coexistence of undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and overnutrition. According to the Economic Survey (2017-18), child and maternal malnutrition posed the most challenging health risk of our times.

India accounts for more than 3 out of 10 stunted children globally, largely owing to a lack of good quality food, poor care and feeding practices, inadequate water, sanitation, and health services. Other than increased susceptibility, the chronic impact of long-term malnutrition in human and economic terms is well known. Undernourishment is highly damaging to children and overshadows their childhoods, impairs their mental and physical development, and damages the country’s economic prospects.

Dying Well – Palliative Care in India

By Shantanu Dutta

On 10th May, the high-profile police officer from Mumbai, Himanshu Roy committed suicide by shooting himself with his service revolver. In a suicide note recovered later, Roy is reported to have said that he is taking this extreme step out of extreme depression due to an incurable cancer. Mr. Roy had been living with cancer since 2000 with recurring remissions and relapses. While some people are debating whether his cancer was under control and he was on the road to cure, what is not being debated is the fact that he was going through depression, possibly for a while and while oncologists were fighting one battle there were other demons that went untreated and that eventually led to him taking his life. Himanshu Roy may have needed palliative care

Moving On From Primary Health Care

By Shantanu Dutta

Secondary and Tertiary care is proposed to be handled separately through the National Health Protection Scheme, called Modicare in the popular jargon and is meant to be insurance based. That needs to be examined separately. But it is worth noting that these insurance packages lead to public tax money being invested in private health insurance companies, rather than being put back into government funds, where it could be used to, for example, improve the primary healthcare infrastructure and healthcare workforce in rural areas.

Hamid Ansari, Jinnah’s Portrait and Turmoil in AMU

By Ram Puniyani *

Recently (May 2018) Hamid Ansari, the ex-Vice President of India, was invited to Aligarh Muslim University to honor him with life membership of AMU Students Union (AMUSU). He had due security with him, still the Hindu Yuva Vahini-ABVP activists could reach near his place of stay. The pretext of the armed protesters was that Jinnah’s portrait has been put up to please Ansari and that they will not allow Jinnah’s portrait in AMU. The usual violence followed few arrests of Vahini volunteers, most of them let off. This has been followed by series of statements from Yogi Adityanath, who incidentally is also the founder of this Hindutva group, saying that portrait will not be allowed, Subramaniam Swami questioned as to who will teach a lesson to AMU! The students of AMU are on the protest against the violence unleashed by Vahini and ABVP.